Nigeria, others move to improve maternal, child survival

Worried by the increasing number of maternal and newborn deaths in Nigeria and indeed Africa, the Federal government has stressed the need to scale-up the implementation of four percent chlorhexidine gel intervention, a drug used to prevent maternal and neonatal mortality across the sub-region 

Speaking at a regional learning workshop organized by the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with PATH and USAID yesterday in Abuja 

Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Abdullahi Mashi, said the high rate of neo-natal mortality coupled with the use of harmful traditional substances such as cow dung, engine oil, tooth paste for cord care led the country to embrace the intervention in order change the newborn deaths narrative in Nigeria.

The workshop which was attended by nine Franco-phone countries was aimed at improving chlorhexidine intervention across the ECOWAS sub-region.

He noted that though government through integrated approach and collaborative public-private partnerships has recorded success in the use of the drug, “the issue of poor data, low uptake of 4 per cent chlorhexidine, weak maternal newborn and child health (MNCH) are challenges confronting CHX implementation”.